Nate Lo

Predators of Mitochondria of the tick Ixodes ricinus

Ixodes ricinus	When bacteria live inside the cells of another organism, they usually remain in the cytoplasm - the soup in which components of the cell bathe. We have recently identified a bacterium - temporarily named IricES - which invades the mitochondria of the medically important tick Ixodes ricinus. This is the only known example of this phenomenon in animals.
mitochondrion model	Mitochondria are the energy-producing components of almost all eukaryotic cells, and are descendants of a bacterium that took up residence in an ancient cell, over a billion years ago.
IricES in a mitochondrion	In a bizarre type of role-reversal, IricES takes up residence in mitochondria, and then proceeds to destroy them. How does this affect the tick? Apparently there is no harm done - in fact, based on the very high prevalence of IricES in tick populations, we hypothesize that the phenomenon may somehow help the tick.
IricES apparently consuming a mitochondrion	Current work includes defining the role of IricES1 in I. ricinus biology, giving IricES a proper name, understanding how it invaded I. ricinus populations, and putting it in tissue cell culture to allow easier experimentation.

Publications relevant to this research: 14, 16